Joseph & Matilda

Joseph Peachey (aka Charles Smith) & Matilda Godfrey
2nd Great Grandparents (Maternal)

Will begin with Joseph, born circa 1818, died 22 June 1864, also known as Joseph Peatchey, Petchey or even Peachey, depending on who wrote/recorded his details.

From hereon I intend to consider this Peachey/Smith to be an ancestor unless conflicting information can convince me otherwise and I am more than happy to be corrected.

There are many birth records of “Joseph” on-line, many fall outside the considered correct date, along with parent names. Father is also a Joseph (1797-1839) but am unable to confirm his mother’s correct name at this time, however an 1820 baptism indicates his mother’s name as “Sarah”.

Moving along, his baptism was on February 29th (of all dates) 1820 in the parish of Wilton, County of Norfolk, living at Hockwold.

The Peachey family apparently had serious money issues and as a young family spent time in at least one Workhouse, being the St Giles in the Fields Workhouse, Camden, during 1823-4.

His marriage to Matilda is recorded in a ‘registered’ page for some date in the July/August/September quarter of 1840 in the sup-registrars district of ‘Dunmow’. No other marriage details are known at this time.

Not long after this blissful union, they both ended up destitute and guests inside the Mile End London Workhouse for a short period. They were both discharged from the Workhouse on 19 December 1840. The details included on the record, show that Joseph was born in 1818 and Matilda in 1819, belonging to the Mile End parish. Joseph’s trade at the time was ‘Blacksmith’ and Matilda’s appears to be ‘Drape Maker’ (this could also be Dress Maker).

Seemingly things kind of improved for Joseph as he ended up being acquitted for “Larceny from the Person” on 2nd of July 1841 at the Essex Assizes. It should be noted that his age indicated here is 21, which would make his birth year 1820. Also worth mentioning that while not exactly 'acquitted' as the end result was a 'No Bill' and that may be one reason why he changed his name to his Charles Smith alias less than four years later.

However, nine months later (7 March 1842), at the same Essex Assizes, he was sentenced to one year of imprisonment for “house breaking”. Again, his given age has changed once again, this time to 19, making his birth year 1823.

Things certainly went pear shaped for young Joseph as on 3 March 1845 when he was charged for robbing his employer of £460 in bank notes and gold. Make note of that value stolen. As of 12 September 2021, in 1845, that £UK460, when converted to 2021 £UK is £UK57,373.92 (or $A114,086.14).

The theft took place on 8 November 1844. On 5 March 1845, he pleaded ‘Guilty’ and was awarded with 10 years Transportation. His given age was 23, which makes his birth year for this paragraph, 1822.

The interesting thing here is he was known and charged/sentenced as “Charles Smith” with “Joseph Peachey” as his alias. Why the name change? Was it because of his "No Bill" four years earlier?

Anyhoo, Joseph (aka Charles), is transported aboard the Mayda with 198 fellow travellers at the beginning of their journey on 27th August 1845 to Norfolk Island, arriving on 8 January 1846. Yep, sailed right past Van Diemen’s Land. Re the Mayda, she eventually departed Hobart for London on 23 April 1846 and was never heard of again, given up as lost by Lloyds of London in May 1847.

Joseph’s convict conduct record records his age as 28 in 1847, making his birth year now 1819 and his sentence is now 15 years, not 10. His time on Norfolk was a ‘short’ five years and he ended up in Van Diemen’s Land (Sandy Bay) where he managed to work well enough to have his sentence reduced on a number of occasions and gained his Ticket of Leave on 25 January 1853, followed by a Conditional Pardon on 19 December 1854.

So, while all of this was going on, what was Matilda up to? We know she made it to Australia. There are no convict records for her, as either a Godfrey, Peachey or a Smith. There is a newspaper mention of a Matilda Godfrey in the Observer, dated 17 June 1849. Probably not her, but you never know.

At the time, a Convict Family Reunion program was re-introduced, where a convict who had gained their Ticket-of-Leave could apply to have their family relocated to the Australian colonies. As there is no record of children so far, Matilda may have made her way out here by that method. An alternative thought is she made her way to Port Phillip as an Assisted or Unassisted Immigrant during the 1850s.

There is no record of any Matilda Godfrey/Peachey making the journey, however there are a number of Matilda Smiths, which would tie in with Joseph’s alias. One such record is of a Matilda Smith, age 32, who arrived in Port Phillip in December 1852. This would make her birth year as 1820. Problem with this record, is the ship involved. The ‘Moselle’ at the time was only a small ship which travelled between Sydney and Tahiti as a re-supply vessel.

The only British ship of that name, HMS Moselle was a Cruiser-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804. She served during the Napoleonic Wars in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the North American station. She was sold in 1815, so there is doubt it would still be in use in the 1850s under the same name.

If Matilda didn’t make her way out via the Convict Family Reunion program and if she arrived as either an assisted or unassisted immigrant, and she used Joseph’s alias, it would make sense to travel as a ‘Mrs’ M. Smith to avoid hassles from the menfolk onboard. That being the case, the only M. Smith that seems to fit the criteria is the one onboard the Duke of Bedford, which arrived at Port Phillip during February 1852. More searching is needed here of course.

Joseph and Matilda were reunited at some point and belatedly started their family, one of their children being Eleanor, my Great Grandmother, who eventually moved to Perth later on in her life.

Joseph eventually died on 22 June 1864 and Matilda remarried on the 17th of April 1865 to one George Fredrick William Keay. Matilda was living in Carlton, Melbourne Victoria at the time and here age is stated as 42, making her birth year 1822.

My, how those birth years change over time.

Wayne Jones
29 August 2021

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